Metallic packing.



No. 774,710. PATENTED NOV. 8, 1904.

H. THOMPSON.

METALLIC PACKING.

APPLICATION FILED rum, 1904. 10 MODEL.

WITNESSES -I@CMX@% UNITED STATES Patented November 8, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

METALLIC PACKING.

' SPECIFICATION formingipart of Letters Patent No. 774,710, dated November 8, 1904.

Original application filed January 6, 1904, Serial No. 187,969. Divided and this application filed February 2'7, 1904. Serial No. 195,584. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRY THOMPSON, of Cheyenne, in the county of Laramie, State of Wyoming, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Packing; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The present application is a division of my prior application, Serial No. 187,969; and the invention relates to improvementsin metallic packings, more particularly to packings adapted for application to piston-rods of steam-engines, the objects of the invention being to provide a structure which will form a steamtight joint about the rod and at the same time permit of a limited lateral movement, such as is usually occasioned by unequal wear. or transverse vibration of the rod, a further ob ject being to provide a structure which may be readily applied to piston-rods having an enlarged cross-head fit.

The invention consists, primarily, in a packing embodying a joint-ring of such construction that it may partake of the movements of the packing proper and at the same time may be applied to a rod having an enlarged crosshead fit and will effectually prevent the blowing or distortion of the packing-rings due to the steam-pressure behind the same.

The invention further consists in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will be now described, and pointed out particularly in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view through apacking applied to a piston-rod and held within a chamber or stufiing-box mounted on one end of a steam-engine cylinder. Fig. 2 is a perspective viewof the joint-ring with the several parts constituting the same separated from each other. Fig. 3 is a similar view of one of the preferred forms of packing-rings. Fig. 4 is a plan of one of the packing-rings with the segments assembled. Fig. 5 is an edge elevation of one of the segments.

Like letters of reference in the several figures indicate the same parts.

The letter Aindicates the piston-rod, which is of usual construction and, so shown, is provided with an enlarged cross-head fit a.

B indicates the end of the cylinder, O C the ends or heads of the packing-box or chamber, and D the cylindrical wall of the latter.

The heads or ends of the packing-box, and particularly the outer head O, are provided with an aperture for the passage of the enlarged cross-head fit a, or in any event of sufficient size to permit of a limited transverse movement of the piston-rod therein without contacting with the Wall of the opening. The inner head O is provided with a bead c, adapted to rest against the cylinder-head and form a steam-tight joint, while inside of said head is a series of openings D to admit steam around the packing-rings.

The packing-rings confined within the chamber and held up by steam-pressure usually bear against the inner faces of the gland or chamber-covers O O, and where such packing-rings are of soft metal it frequently happens that not only is a steam-tight joint between said rings and inner face of the cover or gland impracticable, but owing to the wear and pressure within the chamber said rings are forced into the opening around the piston-rod, thereby greatly impairing their efficiency, if not resulting in their total destruction or a great wear and friction on the rod. In the present instance the packing-rings, to be presently described in detail, instead of bearing directly against the inner face of the gland or cover or against a simple follower bear against a compound joint-ring, which is of such form that it may be readily placed on mod having an enlarged cross-head fit and when in place will fit said rod quite accurately, thereby closing to a large extent the opening in the gland or cover O and permit ting of the formation of steam-tight joints which will not be injured by excessive wear or transverse vibration of the rod. This com 'pound joint-ring consists, essentially, of an outer integral ring F, of iron, steel,or alumini-' um, having a conically-formed aperture there in or an aperture with inclined walls 7, the angle of the inclination being immaterial, but

the aperture being of sufiicient diameter-tov permit of the ring being passed over the end of the connecting-rod. The ring is preferably of such diameter that while it will rest against the inner face of the gland or cover the packing-rings will not contact therewith. To reduce the size of the opening in the ring F, a segmental or sectional ring F is introduced into the same, said ring F having a peripheral conformation corresponding to the conformation of the aperture in the ring F, or, in other words, having a conicallyformed or tapering peripheral surfacef. The sections of this inner ring F are preferably half-circles and formed to accurate dimensions, so that when the ring is in place the ends of the sections will abut and when the sections are forced into the outer rings F steam-tight joints will be formed between the several sections constituting the ring. The inner face of the sectional portion F of the ring is preferably of such diameter as to receive the pressure of the packing-rings. the sections being thereby held firmly in place in the outer ring, and at the same time the whole joint-ring, together with the packingrings, is free to partake of the transverse movements of the rod. The opposite faces of the joint-ring are flat and parallel. Thus the ring as awhole will rest fiat against the gland and outer packing-ring, forming steamtight joints at both of these points, the pres sure on the rings serving to maintain the joints steam-tight at all times.

The diameter of the aperture in the sectional portion of the joint-ring is preferably but slightly larger than the diameter of the body of the rod, and consequently the packing-rings will be amply supported at a point close to the rod and will not be subjected to wear or liability of the metal spreading along the rod, as might otherwise be the case.

With a view to providing a packing-ring which is especially well adapted for maintaining its close contact with the rod and at the same time so formed as to present smooth flat surfaces to adjacent rings, as well as to the segmental portion of the joint-ring,1 preferably form the packing-rings in duplicate segments, each constituting one-half of the completering. The ring itself is shown in detail in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, and from an inspection of these figuresit will be seen that each end of each of the segments G is provided with a flat outwardly-facing bearing-surface H and afiat forwardly-facing bearing-surface I, the said surfaces at the same end of the segments being both extended in substantially the same plane, which plane (see Fig. 4) is tangential to the inner periphery of the ring. In width the said flat bearing-surfaces are approximately equal to one-half the thickness of the ring, and the outwardly-facing bearing-surface at one end of each segment and the inwardly -facing bearing-surface at the opposite end of the same segment are located on the same side of the ring-that is to say, they both extend inwardly at right angles to the same face of the ring-- so that each segment is aduplicate of the other, and when the segments are assembled,as shown in Fig. 4, each face of the ring will be fiat and smooth; but the two segments are capable of movement toward and from each other. Each segment at its ends supports and protects the other segment in such manner that the segments will not open and permit of leakage through the joints between the segments. Furthermore, by this construction it is found that the segments when assembled will maintain their assembled positions without the necessity of employing special retaining means, although, if so desired, a retainer, such as indicated at K, in the form of a ring may be employed to prevent the segments from rattling apart when the engine is being run without steam. The steam-pressure, however, keeps the rings set up whenever pressure is in the cylinder.

With a packing of the character described it is found that repairs may be easily and effectually made and packing may be readily applied to engines now in use without the necessity of disconnecting parts other than the rod from the cross-head, and, furthermore, experience demonstrates that a packing embodying a joint-ring of the character specified has an exceedingly long life and practically forms a tight joint at all times, even when the packing-rings have been much worn, inasmuch as the space around the rod is so reduced that the packing-rings may be Worn down very thin before there is sufficient looseness to permit of an appreciable escape of steam.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ,is

1. In metallic packing, the combination with the chamber and packing-rings, of a jointring interposed between the packing-rings and inner face of the chamber and of less external diameter than the internal diameter of the chamber so as to be free to move transversely with the rod and packing-rings, said joint-ring being formed by an outer ring of fixed dimension having a central comically-shaped aperture and an inner sectional ring withacorresponding conically-shaped periphery, whereby said joint-ring may be placed on a rod having an enlarged cross-head fit; substantially as described.

2. In a packing of the character described, the combination with the chamber for the reception of the packing and having the apertures therein for the passage of the rod, and the packing-rings located in said chamber, of a joint-ring through which the rod passes and against which the packing-rings rest, composed of an outer ring movable transversely in contact with the inner face of the chamber and having a central opening with inclined walls and a sectional ring having outer inclined Walls seating in the opening of the outer ring and adapted to receive the pressure of the packing-rings; substantially as described.

3. In metallic packing, the combination With the cover for the chamber and packing-ring, having their adjacent faces flat and parallel, of a joint-ring having flat faces and interposed between the adjacent faces of the packing-ring and cover, the said joint-ring being composed of an outer ring of fixed dimension less in diameter than the chamber and having a conically-shaped aperture and an inner sectional shaped aperture and an inner sectional ring 20 having a correspondingly-shaped conical periphery, the said parts when assembled presenting oppositely-disposed flat faces extendlng in parallel planes; substantially as described.

HARRY THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

H. WALDO MOORE, J. J. MONAMARA. 

